Palestinians accuse Israeli extremists of killing Arab teen

JERUSALEM — Palestinians accused Israeli extremists of abducting and killing an Arab teenager and burning his body Wednesday, sparking hours of clashes in East Jerusalem and drawing charges that the youth was murdered to avenge the killings of three kidnapped Israeli teens.

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Seeking to calm the explosive situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged a swift inquiry into the "reprehensible murder" and called on people to respect the rule of law. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said it was clear that Jewish extremists were responsible and called on Israel to bring the killers to justice.

"The settlers have killed and burned a little boy. They are well known," Abbas said. "I demand that the Israeli government hold the killers accountable."

International condemnations came quickly.

The Obama administration denounced the killing as a "heinous murder" and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

The death added to the already heightened tensions caused by the killings of three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were discovered Monday just over two weeks after they disappeared in the West Bank. Israel accused Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, of being behind the abductions, which led to the largest ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade, with Israel arresting hundreds of Hamas operatives as part of a broad manhunt.

The discovery of the bodies led to a national outpouring of grief, with tens of thousands of people attending a funeral Tuesday in which the teens were laid to rest side by side. As the burial took place, hundreds of young, right-wing Israelis marched through downtown Jerusalem screaming for revenge.

Hours later, relatives of Mohammed Abu Khdeir said the 17-year-old Arab teen was forced into a car that quickly sped off in a neighborhood of East Jerusalem. A burned body believed to be his was found shortly afterward in a Jerusalem forest, though police said late Wednesday they were still awaiting forensics tests to make a positive identification.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were looking at "a number of different directions" in the killing, including nationalistic or criminal motives.

But Abu Khdeir's family said they had no doubt about the killers, accusing extremist Israelis of killing him to avenge the deaths of the Israeli teenagers.

As news of the youth's disappearance spread, hundreds of Palestinians in East Jerusalem took to the streets, torching light-rail train stations and hurling stones at Israeli police, who responded with stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets. The clashes continued throughout the day.

Associated Press

A Palestinian uses a slingshot in clashes with Israeli border police in Jerusalem. Palestinians have accused Israeli extremists in the disappearance and apparent death of a teen Arab.